Taxonomy & naming
The Tepehua cichlid was described in 2014 by Mauricio De la Maza-Benignos, Claudia Patricia Ornelas-García, María de Lourdes Lozano-Vilano, Marco Alberto García-Ramírez and Ignacio Doadrio, in the Hydrobiologia paper (formally dated 2015) that also erected the genus Nosferatu for the molar-toothed snail-eaters of the Pánuco. Crucially, the authors placed their new species in Herichthys, not Nosferatu — tepehua is a true Herichthys, allied to the slimmer, algae-and-omnivore lineage of the genus rather than to the heavy-jawed molluscivores. FishBase and Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes retain it as a valid Herichthys tepehua. It was distinguished from its neighbours, the Pánuco-basin Herichthys to the north and Herichthys deppii of the Nautla/Misantla to the south, on the basis of molecular and morphological evidence; the river systems it occupies — the Tuxpan/Pantepec, Cazones, Tecolutla, Tenixtepec and Solteros of northern Veracruz — lie geographically between those of its congeners, and the species fills a previously unrecognised gap in the distribution of the genus along the central Gulf slope of Mexico.
Morphology
Herichthys tepehua is a moderate-sized cichlid, reaching about 5.5 in in standard length, with the laterally compressed body of the genus and a fairly small mouth — it belongs to the slimmer, non-molariform branch of Herichthys rather than to the heavy snail-crushers, so its pharyngeal dentition is comparatively fine. Coloration follows the genus pattern: a brassy to grey-green ground, frequently flecked with pearl or blue, with a row of dark mid-lateral blotches and a dark spot at the caudal base. In breeding condition the pattern sharpens into the contrasting pale-and-dark fields typical of the genus, the forward body paling while dark areas strengthen behind. Because the species is so recently described, fine details of its colour variation across its several river systems are still being documented. Sexual dimorphism is weak — males average slightly larger and may carry marginally longer fins — and venting is the most reliable way to sex the fish.
Habitat
The Tepehua cichlid is endemic to a set of short, independent Atlantic-slope river systems of northern Veracruz — the Tuxpan (Pantepec), Cazones, Tecolutla, Tenixtepec and Solteros drainages — that descend from the eastern Sierra Madre to the Gulf of Mexico, between the larger Pánuco basin to the north and the Nautla basin to the south. It is a benthopelagic fish of these flowing coastal rivers, occupying channels and pools over varied bottoms. Detailed in-situ water chemistry for the species has not been widely published, but its rivers are warm, generally clear to moderately turbid running waters of the central Gulf slope; the broad regional pattern is of warm, hard-ish, near-neutral to mildly alkaline conditions rather than the strongly alkaline karstic springs of the Pánuco endemics. Its occurrence across several adjacent but separate drainages is a key part of its description and of its conservation picture, since each river represents a partly independent population.
Feeding
Herichthys tepehua is an omnivore of the riverbed, with a trophic level around 3.4. Lacking the heavy molariform pharyngeal mill of the snail-crushing Nosferatu, it forages over the bottom for a mixed diet of aquatic insect larvae and other invertebrates, algae and aufwuchs, and organic detritus, in the generalist manner of the slimmer Herichthys lineage to which it belongs. This dietary flexibility suits a fish of variable coastal-river habitats, where food availability shifts between riffle and pool and across seasons. Specific gut-content studies for this newly described species are limited, so its diet is inferred largely from its dentition, its trophic level and the habits of its close relatives, all of which point to mid-level omnivory rather than any feeding specialisation.
Mating
As a member of Herichthys, the Tepehua cichlid is a monogamous, pair-bonding substrate spawner. Pairs form as fish come into condition and become territorial, claiming and defending a patch of the riverbed around cover, with the strengthened breeding pattern serving as a courtship and threat display. In the seasonally variable coastal rivers it inhabits, breeding is likely cued by the warmer, more stable part of the year. As in the tribe Herichthyini, both members of the pair hold the territory jointly, the female taking the larger role in direct egg and larval care while the male patrols and defends the perimeter. Because the species was described only in 2014, its courtship has not been studied in detail in the wild, but it is expected to follow the well-established pattern of the genus.
Breeding
Herichthys tepehua is a biparental substrate spawner, like the rest of its genus. The pair cleans a firm surface — a flat stone or the wall of a small excavated pit on the riverbed — and the female lays an adhesive clutch of ovoid eggs onto it, after which both parents guard and fan the eggs and then shepherd the free-swimming fry in a school over the substrate. The female concentrates on the eggs and larvae while the male defends the wider territory; the pair continues to guard the mobile fry after they leave the spawning site. Clutch sizes are expected to run to a few hundred eggs in the manner of similar-sized Herichthys. As a very recently described species with no large captive following, its breeding has not been documented in detail, and the account here is drawn from the consistent reproductive biology of its close relatives rather than from a published study of tepehua itself.
In the aquarium
Herichthys tepehua is essentially a fish for dedicated Central American cichlid specialists; described only in 2014 and restricted to a handful of Veracruz rivers, it is rare in collections and absent from general trade. Where it is kept, the husbandry of its better-known riverine congeners applies. A pair can be maintained in an aquarium of around 65–80 US gal, longer rather than taller, furnished with a sand or fine-gravel bottom, smooth rockwork and wood forming caves and broken sightlines, and moderate current with good oxygenation to echo its flowing-river habitat.
Water chemistry should be hard-ish and neutral to mildly alkaline; as a central-Gulf-slope river fish it does not require the very high pH of the karstic-spring endemics, nor the soft, acidic water of South American cichlids. A keeping temperature in the mid-20s °C suits it, with a varied omnivorous diet — prepared and frozen foods with a meaningful vegetable and algal component — reflecting its mixed wild feeding. Tankmates should be robust, similarly sized fish able to handle a territorial pair; like all Herichthys it becomes assertive when spawning and will not tolerate crowding, so it is best regarded as a species-tank or robust-community fish. Because it is so seldom kept and so newly recognised, anyone maintaining tepehua should treat detailed husbandry notes as provisional and document their observations, since reliable captive accounts of the species are still scarce.
Conservation
Herichthys tepehua has not yet been formally evaluated by the IUCN Red List — its FishBase record lists it as Not Evaluated — which reflects how recently it was described (2014) rather than any conclusion about its security. Its conservation picture is shaped by its restriction to a set of short Atlantic-slope rivers in northern Veracruz (the Tuxpan/Pantepec, Cazones, Tecolutla, Tenixtepec and Solteros systems), each a partly independent population. These central-Gulf-slope drainages face the familiar pressures of the region — habitat alteration, water extraction, agricultural and urban pollution, and the spread of introduced fishes — and a species confined to a small cluster of coastal basins has limited capacity to absorb sustained degradation. A formal Red List assessment is needed; in its absence, the species should be regarded as a narrow-range endemic of conservation interest, with its status to be clarified as field data on its distribution and abundance accumulate.